


Rolling Along

by murmurtheblues



Category: Spring Awakening - Sheik/Sater
Genre: F/M, Lydia and I talked about the SA girls doing derby and I was like YES, Modern AU, Moritz has self-doubt, mentioned child abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 17:53:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7811542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murmurtheblues/pseuds/murmurtheblues
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even though he’s working behind the counter, he’s still going to have to learn how to roller skate. Moritz thinks to thirty seconds ago, when he basically tripped over thin air. He can only imagine the havoc he’s going to wreak with wheels strapped to his clumsy feet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rolling Along

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ShippingEverything](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShippingEverything/gifts).



> MORITZ/MARTHA 4 LYFE ok seriously this is my first longer fic and it's for my dear Lydia who requested that Moritz work at a rollerskating diner. That part becomes sort of inconsequential. But I love these two characters w/ my whole being. Enjoy!

By some strange cosmic alignment, Moritz Stiefel gets a summer job. It’s at the local diner, and he’s so shocked that he trips over his own feet reading the email as he walks home from school. Thank God, he thinks. He won’t spend his entire summer cooped up in his room, taking shit from his father for not doing anything. And he’ll get paid, which means he’ll actually be able to have fun with his friends on weekends. Moritz had spent every summer dropping hints to his parents that he’d like a few dollars to go see a movie with Melchior or hang out at the arcade with Ilse and Wendla. His mother would slip him a $5 bill every so often, but other than that, he was at the mercy of his father, who believed that money only came when Moritz had done something to earn it. He’s feeling self-confident for once when his eyes catch the bottom of the email: Employees will need to provide their own roller skates.

Moritz chokes on his own spit. Roller skates?! He frantically scrolls through the rest of the email. It tells him that the diner is going through an “aesthetic revamping,” and that it’s going for a 50’s vibe to jazz things up. Even though he’s working behind the counter, he’s still going to have to learn how to roller skate. Moritz thinks to thirty seconds ago, when he basically tripped over thin air. He can only imagine the havoc he’s going to wreak with wheels strapped to his clumsy feet.

 

Moritz sits in the park, staring down the secondhand pair of skates on his feet. He has five weeks until his job starts. Five weeks to make sure that he won’t be totally hopeless and get fired on the first day. So far, he’s managed to stand up on his skates, push off one foot, fall face first, and have a group of twelve year olds laugh at him. He needs some sort of angel to get him through this.

He’s about to give up for the day when he hears a familiar voice.

“Moritz? Are you alright?”

He looks up and sees Martha Bessell standing over him. She’s wearing a sweatshirt and athletic shorts, as well as a helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, and roller skates. It’s odd to see her in something other than the school uniform she and the other girls have to wear. And even though they’re good friends, he had no idea she knows how to skate.

“I’m okay,” he mumbles as he gets to his feet. As soon as he says it, he stumbles again. She grabs his shoulders to steady him. He’s at least five inches taller than her, but she seems to be strong enough to keep them both from falling.

“I didn’t know you skated too!” she exclaims. Moritz shrugs, and she realizes her hands are still on his shoulders and drops them immediately. “I mean, um, I tried to get the other girls to do it, but they didn’t want to.”

She stares at the ground, looking slightly embarrassed. Moritz wishes she wouldn’t feel that way. She lights up when she gets excited, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s kind of cute, actually. Her eyes get sort of sparkly and she smiles all big and - whoa, he thinks, calm down, it’s not like he has a crush on her or anything. Like she’d like him like that anyway.

He tries to break the tension. “Well, I don’t really skate skate. I have to learn for, um, my summer job,” he admits sheepishly. It sounds even more ridiculous when he says it out loud.

The corner of her mouth quirks up. “I could help you learn if you want, it’s really easy once you get the hang of it.”

“Really?” He thought she would laugh at him. Everyone else did, and he doesn’t blame them  
.  
“Yeah, I’d be happy to help you,” she says shyly. “I’m free this time every Sunday. Does that work?”

“Um, yeah, I think so,” he smiles back at her. “You don’t have to do this, you know.”

She shrugs, still smiling. “I know. But I want to.”

 

The first week is something of a disaster. Moritz wishes he could just get what Martha’s teaching him, but he can’t take three steps without stumbling. He feels ridiculous, especially when he watches her glide along, easy as walking. Although every time he falls, Martha helps him up with a grin. He can’t help grinning with her.

 

Moritz finds himself looking forward to his second lesson. It’s odd, he thinks. Normally, if he had to do something he wasn’t good at, he’d feel sick to his stomach. But for some reason, he’s not dreading it so much. He can’t decide if it’s because he’s actually starting to believe in himself or if he likes hanging out with Martha. He comes to the conclusion that maybe the two aren’t that different.

 

The third week, Moritz only trips three times. The first two times are because he’s still trying to get the hang of doing a T-stop. The third time is because he holds Martha’s hand for balance. She trips, and he doesn’t let go.

 

The last week comes quicker than Moritz expected. He meets Martha at the park again, smiling as she rolls up to him. He notices how the muscles in her legs flex when she skates, and how the wind ruffles her short hair. As she gets closer, he notices something purplish on her thigh, peeking out from her shorts. She stops in front of him, and his blood runs cold.

It’s a bruise, not only purple but mottled blue and yellow around the edges. It looks fairly fresh, and Moritz’s mind goes into overdrive. Didn’t her dad get arrested? Didn’t he get sent far away, where he couldn’t hurt her anymore? Has her mother started hurting her? What can he do to help? What can he do to protect her?

Moritz must have some sort of look on his face, because Martha asks him, “Moritz? You okay?”

He points to the bruise. “Who did that to you?” His voice is darker and angrier than she’s ever heard it.

She tugs the hem of her shorts down instinctively. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it-” 

“Did your dad find you? Has your mom starting hurting you? Martha, I swear, I’ll kill them, they’ll never touch you again-” 

And he takes off in the direction that she came. He’s halfway across the park until he hears her calling him. He turns around and sees her coming towards him at a speed that he didn’t know someone could get to on skates. For some reason, she’s grinning from ear to ear. She catches up to him and he launches into another tirade. 

“I just want to help, tell me what’s going on, I swear I won’t let anyone hurt you, we can fix this-” 

“Moritz, it’s okay, I’m fine, I promise you,” she says soothingly. She pauses, then asks, “do you know how I got so good at skating?” 

He falls silent for a moment, then starts again. “Shit, I never asked you, what kind of a person am I, you must think I’m so ignorant, I’m so sorry-” 

She cuts him off kindly but firmly, taking his hand in hers. “Moritz, I’m not mad, promise.” She pauses, then says, “the reason I’m so good is… have you ever heard of roller derby?” 

Moritz looks at her with a combination of shock and amazement. 

“You do roller derby?” His voice lowers to a whisper, like he doesn’t want the world to know. 

She nods, laughing at his reaction. It’s a warm, free sound and he fights the urge to laugh with her. 

“So… you’re okay? Your parents aren’t hurting you?” he asks seriously. 

“No, no, everything’s okay. This one,” she lets go of his hand and motions to the bruise, “is from getting hip-checked into the railing.” 

He shakes off his awe and asks, “so why were you smiling when you were chasing me down? I must’ve looked stupid, skating around like some-” 

He stops himself and stares at his feet. He just skated halfway across the park without falling once, and he was so focused on Martha that he didn’t even notice. A huge smile creeps over his face, and he grabs her into a huge hug. 

“Martha, oh my god, how did I do that?! I just… knew what to do and I didn’t even think about it because I was so distracted by protecting y-” 

He cuts himself off again. Fuck, fuck, FUCK. Like she’d need him to protect her. She does roller derby, for fuck’s sake. If anything, he needs her to protect him. He’s sure he’s crossed some sort of line, until Martha takes his hands in hers again. 

“You did it because you didn’t doubt yourself. I wish you could see what you’re capable of, Moritz,” she murmurs, making him inch closer to her. “You could probably be a superhero, acting so quickly like that to protect someone.” 

Moritz can tell that she means it. He wants to tell her that she’s the only person who’s ever made him believe in himself. He wants to tell her about how graceful and powerful she looks on her skates. He wants to ask her when her derby bouts are, although he’s not sure if he could stand to see her get hurt. 

Instead, he places his hand on her cheek. She looks at his lips as they move closer, until he finally closes the gap and kisses her. Her lips are soft and she tastes a little like vanilla. He lowers his hand to her neck. She loops her free arm around his waist, squeezing him closer until their helmets knock together. They break apart, laughing, and skate home after a decidedly wonderful lesson. 

They don’t let go of each other’s hands the entire way.

**Author's Note:**

> Your comments are highly appreciated! You can also find me over at maryadmitryevnas on tumblr.


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